Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Sleeping Zombie and the PLAN

Lucy is a sleeping zombie. Besides being messed with by the nurses and doctors and whomever else wants to poke and prod her - she is out cold. Don't worry, I keep asking if it's ok and it is. Between her being fed every three hours whether she is awake or not and her heart issues - both lead to zombie like sleep.

Speaking of eating - her sleepiness is making it basically impossible to nurse - we have started her on bottles and even those are a huge challenge. I think the most she ate off a bottle was half an ounce. I think they said in rounds - she is only getting about 9% of her daily amount NOT through the feeding tube. I'm hoping once she feels better and is awake - she might have enough motivation to eat!

The Plan...

Lucy will undergo heart surgery thursday morning. They will fix her duct as well as the part of the aorta artery that is narrowing. Good news is both are outside the heart and should be able to be fixed through an incision in between two ribs on her left side. She will also have a drainage tube for a few days after.

The surgery will take about 2 hours or about 4 hours total with everything from putting her under to waking her up. When she does wake up, she will be on pain meds and monitored closely.

Right now, as we understand it, she will be in the ICU again for 3 to 4 days - then we start over in the transitional unit with getting her to feed so she can go home. My guess is our goal will be to get home by next Friday.

Tomorrow is a big day of meeting with a lot of doctors and getting the final plan. She is in really good care here. We are just happy they decided to move forward now instead of later!

Couple of side notes...

Mom and Darrell leave tomorrow morning and it was hard to say goodbye. But hopefully next time they see Lucy - she won't be connected to a bunch of monitors! We can't thank them enough for their help and being such good sports through this roller coaster! We owe them big!

Val flies in tomorrow and we are super excited for her visit! It will be nice to be continuing being surrounded by friends and family!

Lastly - our neighbors are awesome. Our next door neighbors and across the street neighbors have given or offered help on numerous occasions. One gave Heidi and Lucy presents that included matching big sister and little sister shirts. I can't wait for that photo session! Then our next door neighbor makes jewelry and made Heidi and I necklaces. It's perfect! I love it! We are so happy we live in such a great neighborhood!

Ok - should get to sleep...if I can :) we have a big next couple of days!